The True Cost of Getting Married

Tying the knot means committing to a lifetime of love, happiness, and possibly starting a family. But it also means some major changes to your finances. Here's how to make sure you're in tip-top shape, so you can focus on the way more fun parts of being a newlywed.

The big question here is whether to file separately or jointly. If you and your spouse aren't earning equal income, it could work to your advantage to file together. However, if your pay is close to the same, filing jointly can result in owing more, says Mitch Fox, director of product management at TurboTax. "The result is what's known as the 'marriage penalty.'" However, this really only affects married couples whose combined income is $150K or more. The reason? Your deductions limit has to be shared, meaning you can only write off half as much.

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"The best defense against the marriage penalty is being prepared," Fox said. "There aren't many tax strategies available to the average newlyweds, but they can at least make sure they aren't caught off guard by being aware of tax law changes, like the new rules from the Fiscal Cliff deal and the Affordable Care Act, and by being proactive with their tax planning."

2. Investments and retirement

Planning to combine your bank accounts? Once the honeymoon's over, it's time to examine and reevaluate your and your partner's investment portfolios. Pour that bottle of wine, sit down, and go over your complete financial plan, goals, and investing timelines, such as saving for your future children's college education, making a down payment on a house, planning for retirement, and minimizing your taxes.

When it comes to retirement savings, you can minimize taxes with "asset location" strategies, basically a fancy way of saying you can hold things like bonds in tax-deferred accounts, such as IRAs or 401(k)s.

For your 401(k), situations vary, but Michael Philips, a financial planner at Financial Mastery Wealth Management, suggests following this general rule: As a couple, you're able to save twice as much as you could if you were single, so contribute as much as you can afford. In 2013 the limit is $17,500, which means as a couple, you can now save $35,000 during the year—even more if you're 50 or older.

3. Food and bills

No more multiple electric bills, no more throwing away so many leftovers, and no more shelling out for two DVRs—sounds like this whole moving in together and putting a ring on it will save you big, right? But it's not always the case. After Ashley Sears, founder of money-saving site Crunchy Frugalista, married her husband, her utility bills actually went up around 25 percent because she was used to keeping the heating and air-conditioning on a lower level than he did. "My husband's habits were very different than mine, so his desire to keep the home 70 degrees year-round really hit the wallet," Sears says.

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Grocery and food spending is no different. The average American spends around $150 a week on food, according to a 2012 Gallup poll. Common sense might tell you that, without children, your food costs after getting married would stay relatively the same, given that you'd just be splitting the cost for double the amount of food. But cooking and dining out with a partner can often lead to purchasing more food. Melissa Bugaj, founder and editor of the family blog According to Mags, says that while she and her husband bought more together, married life encouraged her to be less wasteful. "Things were eaten in a more timely manner," Bugaj says. "The lack of wastefulness balanced out the slightly inflated grocery bill."

Another reason you may spend less: Single people often purchase smaller sizes of various products, which are never priced as economically as larger family-size stuff, says Michele Poche, editor of the blog Old Dog New Tits.

The key to saving on groceries is to create a weekly meal plan, then take turns cooking and looking up easy new recipes. Always remember to save any coupons you receive in the mail, and enroll in your grocery store's rewards programs, which can save you a whole lot of dough.

But if you become a co-obligor with your new spouse on existing credit obligations, the rules change. "Once you've become liable for his or her debt, then it's as if the debt is yours."

Your credit will also be impacted if you decide to jointly apply for a home or auto loan, which requires disclosing your marital status to the lender. Skip it unless you have near equal credit scores or if you need both of your incomes to apply for the amount of money you're trying to borrow. Otherwise, it's best to maintain credit independence even after marriage.

Although married couples are far more likely to be homeowners—69 percent of married couples reported home ownership in 2011 verses 35 percent of singles, according to the Consumer Expenditure Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics—Ulzheimer believes it's best for both spouses to maintain complete credit independence even after marriage. Doing so will help ensure that your good credit stays where it is after you say "I do," and that your bad credit won't negatively affect your partner's report and score.

Sarah Kaufman is the editor-in-chief of The Manilla Folder at Manilla.com, a platform that helps you manage your finances, utilities, daily deals, travel and rewards programs, and subscriptions—all in one place. Sarah is also a regular contributor to Yahoo! Finance, Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, The Motley Fool, and other major sites.

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